Police arrest 1, uproot P8M worth of marijuana from Toledo City plantation

CEBU CITY, Philippines— Police arrested a cultivator and uprooted around 20,000 fully grown marijuana plants with an estimated value of P8 million from a plantation in Sitio Kalugtogan, Barangay Pangamihan in Toledo City this morning, April 29, 2020.

They also recovered a 45 caliber with 2 magazines and 12 live ammunitions, one 38 caliber revolver, and one unit of KG9 with two pieces hand grenades in the area.

The operation happened two days since the ambush of three police officers who were doing surveillance operations in the hinterland barangay.

Read: Manhunt on for suspects in ambush of cops in Toledo City“

“Noted na gyud nang lugara diha, kapila nana na uproot-an kay bugnaw. Karon kining maong operation, amo ning gi under surveillance ni namog mga usa gyud ka semana,” said Toledo Police chief Police Colonel Janet Rafter.

(The area is a known marijuana plantation because of its cold weather. We placed the area under surveillance for one week prior to today’s operation.)

Toledo City police implemented the Wednesday morning operation in coordination with the Cebu Police Provincial Office and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA)-7.

They arrested farmer Jennelyn Conoseda Cabiles but her three other companions who were identified as Eduardo Alisoso Cabiles, Argie Cabiles, and Diovenal Cabiles managed to escape.

Rafter said that all the four suspects were related.

“Di pa namo ma trace kung kinsa ani ang manag-igagaw o kinsa ang manag-igsoon on going pa ang investigation,” she added.

(But we still could not determine who among them are siblings and who are cousins because our investigation is still ongoing.)

Rafter said they have also requested the Toledo City courts to issue a warrant for the arrest of the three other cultivators. /dcb